Lina's Choice
by NightElfCrawler
Summary: Trip down Memory Lane. An archived story I'm bringing back. Lina has a choice to make. Is it the right one? Who's to say what's right and wrong for the human heart?


**Lina's Choice**

By nightelfcrawler

_Warnings: None_

_Okay so... in chatting with an rp partner, we ended up discovering that we had been a part of the same fandoms some 10+ years ago. She ran a website that hosted some of my old fics... which made me drag out some old dvds that I'd saved my webpages on... and lo and behold, I found these old fics hanging around still and decided heck why not bring them back. So here they are, a trip down memory lane! These were written in the late 90's and early 2000's when I went by too many psudonyms to remember. I actually forgot who I was until I physically saw the fics listed and went 'oh crap I remember those!'. Ahh memories.  
><em>

_Be warned... these were my first attempts at writing and are likely riddled with grammar, spelling and other noted errors. I've read through them, blushed furiously that I used to write like this, and decided to put them up anyway as-is with no revisions. So please enjoy, but don't bother correcting or whining, they shall be ignored!_

* * *

><p>"Hey hey, wait up!"<p>

"No way! Last one there loses out!"

"Come on you had a head start!" The boy complained as he panted desperately trying to catch up with his friend. "Slow down!"

The older boy just laughed and scrambled up the side of the mountain,  
>wedging his feet between rocks and finding handholds as the two made their way towards the waterfall's opening up top. "Hurry up then!"<p>

The other boy had reached the boulder that stood by the fall's entrance,  
>and was peering through the cascade of water with a strange look on his face. Surprisingly, he remained that way until the other had managed to catch up with him, and stood panting beside him. "Why'd you wait?<br>Thought you wanted to go first?" Then he noticed his friends' distracted look. "What's wrong?"

The boy pointed. "Does it look like there's a cave back there to you?"  
>He pointed through the falls to a dark patch just behind the water.<p>

The other peered forward and squinted. "Yeah... actually..."

The first boy stuck his bare arm inside the freezing cold water and searched around, then stuck his head in. Before long, the rest of his body followed, disappearing behind the falls. His faint voice came from behind the water curtain. "Hey! There is!"

The second boy took a breath, then dove behind the falls and joined his friend, shaking his head off and looking around. "Cool... Wonder how deep it goes..."

The other took a step towards the rear of the cave. "Looks like it goes back pretty far..." He grinned teasingly at his friend. "Let's check it out."

The two stepped further into the deep cave that was cut into the rocks,  
>and soon found themselves feeling their way in the darkness along the narrow cave's walls as they progressed further back. However, their exploration was cut short suddenly, when the first boy made a stifled cry, then was gone. "Huh?" The second said, feeling forward with his hands. "What's going on?" However, he found out as the floor fell out from beneath him and he was sliding down a long chute and landed with a hard thump on top of his friend on the floor.<p>

"Get off my you idiot..." The first boy groaned, shoving his friend off rudely. "Itte..." He rubbed his elbow where he'd scraped it on the rock. "What the hell happened?" He glanced around, and both their voices fell silent at the strange sight before them...

They were in a smooth oval chamber whose walls were made of perfectly smooth polished black rock... The ceiling was quite tall, but the room was small in general. However, in the very center of the room, a strange tall pointed crystal pulsing with a blue light stood ten feet tall in the air. That was the only object in the room, and it seemed to be set into the black polished floor as if merged with it.

The two boys stared open mouthed at it, then slowly stood up and hesitantly walked forward to examine it. "Whoa..." One said quietly.  
>"What is this?"<p>

The other reached out a hand and placed it on the stone's surface. "Hey,  
>it's warm!" He began to say, but the moment his hand had touched the stone, the pulsing color had shifted to a deep ruby blood red. The two jerked back alarmed, trying to scramble back up the smooth chute the way they'd come, but failing.<p>

The crystal continued pulsing fiercely, each pulse sending out a wave of light and heat that rocketed into the sides of the walls, which made them light up in faint power. The two boys cowered with fear as far away as they could get, and watched with wide eyes as an enormous crack began to run up and down the length of the crystal. "You...broke it.." One whispered.

"Did not..." The other hissed back, but looked doubtful.

Then, with an enormous CRACK, the crystals front broke off and shattered onto the ground into a million shards that flew everywhere, cutting the boys as they flew by. But they hardly noticed as the contents of the crystal took their breaths away. Standing in the center, with eyes closed and a peaceful expression, was a small petite woman with long fiery orange hair piling down around her waist. She had smooth perfect skin, and stood inside the crystal devoid of clothing, making the two stare with nosebleeds as they tried to jerk their eyes away. Then,  
>slowly, the eyes fluttered slightly, and slid open, revealing crimson red eyes glittering out. The two boys shivered in terror at the thought of dying in the cave by the hands of such a monster, despite the loveliness...<p>

As her eyes opened, she blinked and seemed to become aware of her surroundings, glancing around looking slightly confused. "Where..." She whispered. "...am I?" Her gaze fell to the two cowering boys, and as she glanced at them, they squeaked in more terror and squeezed their eyes shut. She blinked, then she glanced about and slowly stepped out of the crystal, onto the floor with grace. She then glanced down, and blushed darkly as she realized she wasn't wearing anything, and glanced around for something to drape over herself, found a towel that one of the boys had dropped, and slid it around herself as cover. Then, she approached the boys once again, standing before them eyeing them confused. "It's OK, I won't hurt you..." The two looked up scared, and met her gaze,  
>which was friendly and slightly baffled. "Can you tell me where I am?"<p>

The two looked at each other. "Uh..." One took the courage to gulp out.  
>"Inside a cave..."<p>

A cross look passed over her face. "I know THAT." She said. "I mean..."  
>She looked confused. "I don't even remember..."<p>

The two glanced at each other then slowly stood up, being far taller than her. "Uh... well, you're just outside of New Saiirag." He stated.  
>"We... accidentally found this cave behind a waterfall... and fell down here."<p>

She frowned. "New Saiirag?" Her eyes looked troubled. "I see... And...  
>where is that?"<p>

The two stared at her. "You don't know?" She shook her head. "Uh,  
>well..." The other boy glanced up the chute. "We'd show you if we could get out..."<p>

She shrugged. "RAYWING!" And the three of them were flying faster than they could react upwards through the chute, then out through the cave,  
>and burst out of the waterfall and landed gracefully, for her, on the ground, while they landed in a pile. They lay there quivering with large eyes, not moving at all.<p>

She glanced around and scratched her head. "This is so weird... I don't remember anything at all of what happened... Why did I end up in that cave... where am I?"

She glanced down at her reflection. "Where am I?" She repeated. By the time she'd glanced back to the two boys, they'd vanished, running off back to safety. She sighed and then jumped into the air with another Raywing, and observed her location from the air... Sure enough, there was a large city just a little distance away. Without further ado, she flew towards it, still questioning her position and circumstances.

Several hours later, she had gotten some of her problems straightened out, well threatening the tailor to give her some garments or she'd burn his shop down had helped a bit... And now she was wandering around New Saiirag, trying to sort things out.

Wearing her new outfit, and pocketing several gold coins in her purse,  
>though they were craftily forged from a copper she'd found in the gutter, she decided that the best thing to do would be to get some information at a public place... Plus, her stomach was beginning to annoy passerby's.<p>

She strode into a restaurant and plopped herself down at a table,  
>promptly ordering triple portions of everything on the menu, startling the waiter in the process, and sighing in frustration. She sipped her water with a distracted look. What had happened? She could vaguely remember small details here and there... something about a fight, she had been fighting a higher mazoku... She frowned deeper as slight tidbits of memories slid back to her. "Damn it..." She murmured. Yes,<br>that was the last thing she remembered...going off to fight some big mazoku, but all the details were fuzzy. She almost laughed aloud. The mighty and powerful Lina Inverse... Having memory loss.

Her mood brightened however as her food arrived, and she set about devouring it with a vengeance. Nothing had tasted more delicious than the food she shoved in her mouth again and again. Halfway through her meal however, as many people stared at her with open eyes, someone stepped into the restaurant, and began questioning the attendant at the desk. He nodded and pointed in Lina's direction, and the individual made his way towards her slowly. She didn't even notice that someone was standing by her table, but kept on eating like there was no tomorrow.  
>Nor did she take notice when he sat himself at a vacant chair at her booth, waiting politely for her to finish her business.<p>

Several minutes later, the plates were empty, and she finished gulping her drink down, setting the cup down with a large thump on the table,  
>before leaning back satisfied and sighing. She was broken out off her reverie by a soft clapping sound. "As impressive as always."<p>

She opened her eyes to see a familiar figure seated across from her. "I figured you'd show up sometime..." She leaned back casually across the seat. "Maybe YOU can give me some answers."

He leaned his chin on his gloved hands, folding them casually as he rested his elbows on the table, and didn't look directly at her as usual. "You're very direct..."

She frowned at him. "And you're acting weird Xelloss..." The restaurant hushed immediately, and she could feel every single person's eyes on their table, wide and some frightened, some awed, some worried. She blinked at their reactions, looking around confused. "What'd I say?"

Xelloss didn't open his eyes or move, but a faint smile crossed his face. "Things have changed Lina-san."

She narrowed her gaze at him, still nervous at all the stares locked on them. "What the hell are you talking about? Stop riddling and say it straight out for once."

She could feel the tension in the room as she spoke, and glanced around at the others getting the feeling that they were nervous about something for some reason. "Tell me why everyone seems to be really scared of you for example." She said leaning forward and tapping her fingers on the table.

He nodded slightly. "Because usually no one can get away with talking to me like that Lina-san...however, you are an exception."

She blinked. "Huh?... wait wait, what do you mean?" Suspicion crept into her voice as she frowned at him. "Why are you so well known...?"

"Lina-san, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure..."

"What is the date?"

She frowned. "How should I know... I've been sealed up inside of some strange crystal for god knows how long, and I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone." She scratched her head. "Why don't you answer that yourself Xelloss?"

His eyes slowly slid open slowly with deliberacy, sending shivers down her back as seeing his eyes always did. "That would be too easy."

She scowled and reached over and grabbed his collar and yanked him forward forcibly. "Don't make me fry you." There was another audible gasp from the restaurant, and Lina noticed that people began edging away from their tables slowly, and there were fewer people in the establishment than before. Seeing this, she let him go, her eyes wary.  
>"But first, gimme a straight answer as to why everyone here is so scared every time I say something or do something to you..."<p>

There was silence as his slitted purple eyes watched her carefully from his position, and she wanted to shrink back away from them, they gave her the creeps. Finally, he spoke in a slow voice. "Because... I'm rather well known in these parts..."

She frowned. "Oh? How's that?"

"Do you want the long story, or the short one?"

She glanced around at the people watching them apprehensively and sighed. "I guess short would be best right now considering our location."

He nodded in agreement. "All right. The reason being that I've taken up residence nearby."

She frowned suspiciously. "And why would this scare them? I take it they know who you are then?"

"Yes."

"Come to think of it, I never did find out specifically who you were.  
>All I knew is that you were working under Hellmaster and you were high level. Other than that..."<p>

A slow smile spread across his face. "As I said earlier, things have changed."

A suspicious look crossed her face. "How's that..."

"In short... I've increased in rank."

She watched him carefully. "And you took up residence around here...OK... so that makes some sense..." She closed her eyes. "But I still am foggy on what happened exactly..."

"Hmm... about that..." He closed his eyes. "It would better be explained elsewhere."

She nodded in agreement. "Ok, fine."

He rose and she followed suit, and everyone made way for them as they made their way out of the restaurant. She noted that no one stopped them to make them pay for their food, well her food, in fact the manager seemed even more willing to get rid of them. Once they were outside,  
>they blended better in with the crowd, though she noted that many people gave them a wide berth. She would see everyone throw Xelloss glances,<br>avoiding his path, but none seemed overly frightened of him...  
>apparently they were used to him being there.<p>

They reached the center of the town, and she could suddenly see a large mountain rising above them on the outskirts of town...On top was a tall spired castle that was jet black, and jutted into the sky like a monument... It wasn't a gloomy type, but a proud shining emblem of power... She glanced at him. "Yours?"

He nodded with a small smile. "Home sweet home."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah..." And they continued onwards, passing outside of the city and started up the path to the mountain's peak. It didn't take long, the path seemed longer than it was, and soon they were at the gates which stood wide open. She assumed he really had no need for defenses.

However, it was here that he stopped and turned around to her.  
>"Lina-san." He pointed with his staff out across the city. "Take a look."<p>

She turned about, and was met with a sight that froze her in her boots where she stood.

The city was any normal city, spread out and well populated. However,  
>there was a certain point where the city ended, and beyond that was a wasteland that was dry and devoid of life. Cracked barren ground ran for miles beyond the range of the eye, stormy clouds sending flashes of lightning to and fro from the ground to the sky and back. Everywhere,<br>devastation...

"...w...what..." Lina could barely get the words out of her mouth,  
>so great was her shock.<p>

Xelloss lowered his staff and continued looking out across the wasteland. "What you see is a result of a catastrophic war that occurred here two hundred years ago."

"T...two..."

"Yes." He turned to her with a serious face. "You wanted the long explanation..." He glanced back out across the wasteland. "There is very little to actually tell..." He nodded. "You can see the result for yourself."

She stared with blank eyes out across the land, shock on her face.  
>"How... why..." She glanced at him. "What war?"<p>

He turned back to her, his violet eyes boring into her. "Why, the War of the Races Lina-san." He cocked a head to the side. "Oh my, did you miss out on that?"

Her eyes narrowed angrily at him. "Stop joking around..." Her voice had a pleading edge to it, as if to ask if he was joking, but she glanced back out and saw the destruction once again and bit her lip.  
>"What... really happened?"<p>

He also turned to gaze out at the land. "It started 300 years ago..."

"You do remember what happened before you were sealed don't you? No?  
>Well I'll refresh your memory then... You were going to save your 'dear Gourry' from Hellmaster. To fight him and knowingly, though he wanted you to cast the Giga Slave for him. You went inside his lair, and started your battle with him, losing your friends lives to him, and then having no option but to use the Giga Slave to defeat him in order to rescue them. A valiant noble effort, sacrificing your lives for theirs... very noble. Anyhow, I witnessed this all firsthand, though you would not have known it since I was making myself scarce. So I was able to see what truly happened there...<p>

"Now before I tell you what happened, you must understand something,  
>Lina-san. Yes, the main goal of the Mazoku race is to return the world to chaos from whence it originated. However, there are many ways to do this, and simply destroying it in one blast is no fun at all. So granted, I wasn't too pleased when the Giga Slave you cast went out of control... Of course, neither of us, Hellmaster or I, expected the result which occurred...<p>

You were very lucky, I believe you are the only person who has managed to call upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares successfully two times,  
>and managed to still escape unharmed. Apparently, L-sama had more plans for this world, and didn't want it to be destroyed. Therefore, she stopped Hellmaster by taking over your body and eliminating him. She then vanished with you, but her power had already done it's damage... It had spread beyond the limits of the area where the issue had originated, and began destroying every single piece of the world that it could. The only area that remained untouched was this small city where the fight occurred.<p>

After this incident, I attempted to contact my mistress, only to discover that she and many others had perished. There was only a very small handful of individuals that seemed to have survived, and this being the only habitable land for hundreds of thousands miles around,  
>all the other humans returned here. They set up a city and tried to regain their lives, however this was very difficult since the atmosphere of the world had been drastically altered, making it harder on people to live. Wars broke out between humans, between mazoku, between ryzoku, and between others... it was a very dark period, in which many were killed.<p>

Which brings us to now. A time where most of the world is uninhabitable.  
>You can survive out there for a certain period of time, but it's very dangerous, and also without the sunlight, you'll die eventually since there's little food and nourishment. The only places where people can thrive are places like this. With those who are capable of making a perfect living environment capable of supporting life. There are only as many of these as there are powerful individuals to hold the spells up.<br>That means sorcerers, sorceresses, mazoku, and ryuzoku. Not that many might I add. And that's basically what happened in a nutshell."

He glanced at her. "Any questions?"

She blinked. She blinked again. She blinked yet a third time. "Uh..."  
>She raised her hand. "Yeah, just one..." She turned to him took a deep breath then screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"<p>

He blinked, his hair flying back a bit from the force of the yell, then he calmly cleared his ears, and cleared his throat. "Um... Well the thing is, we didn't know what had happened to you... We actually thought we'd never see you again. I mean, you disappeared 300 years ago,  
>so we figured you were dead."<p>

"Who's we?"

His eyes held hers for some time, then glanced away. "Your other friends Lina-san..."

She stared at him, then her face drained of all color very quickly. "Oh god... where... What happened to them..."

He shook his head. "300 years is a long time Lina-san."

She stared blankly at him, uncomprehending his words at first, but then she closed her eyes and slowly collapsed to her knees on the ground.  
>"Oh...no..."<p>

Xelloss seemed unfazed by her actions. "There is nothing more you can do Lina-san. What is done is done." He then knelt down beside her and held out a hand to her. "Starting a new life is your best option at this time."

She looked up at him confused at first, then she stood up by herself without his help and glanced back out across the void. "Tell me. Is everyone I knew dead but you? Does that include my sister... and..." She choked on the words Gourry

He looked at her and once again shrugged. "As I said. 300 years is a very long time."

She shivered to herself. "I see..." She took a deep breath. It was amazing she thought how calm she was after hearing all of this. "So...  
>What now?"<p>

He raised an eyebrow, apparently as surprised as she that she had taken the news well. "That is up to you. You are welcome here of course, as I said, there aren't many places around the world like this one. I protect these people, and in turn they do favors for me."

She looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah..." What kind of favors?  
>"Well..." She closed her eyes. "OK, Xelloss. Tell me the truth now.<br>This isn't a dream? It's real? All of what you've told me has truly happened, and I won't wake up in a bit and find out it wasn't true?"

He watched her with a smooth look on his face. "Real is what you want it to be."

That brought her up short. She froze and then slowly turned to look at him. He was as impassive as always, but his eyes had remained open and serious. "What do you mean by that." She stated coldly.

He cocked his head. "I mean what I mean."

She blinked, then suddenly turned to face him. "Are you saying that everything you've told me is a lie?"

"I make no claims."

Her anger began to rise slowly. "Stop playing with me Xelloss!" She reached for him, but her hand passed through him effortlessly, and suddenly everything around them faded into black. There was nothing.

She spun around, but he wasn't there. It was all darkness and void. She couldn't see any smidgen of light... "Xelloss?" She called out worriedly. "What's going on?"

/Do you recognize this Lina Inverse? / Came a voice inside her head.

She spun around, but no one was there. "Who are you?"

/Chaos /

"What?" She turned about, but nothing had changed. "What does that mean?"

/It means what you think it means /

She frowned. "Xelloss... Is that you?"

All around her, the blackness rippled and warped, and then suddenly the floor seemed to fall out beneath her. Below her was an all to familiar scene. "Gourry!" She called out nearly panicked. "Gourry! Zel! Amelia!  
>They're alive!"<p>

She tried to reach for them, but couldn't move from her hovering position above them. All she could do was watch as they shouted wordlessly below her to each other as a bright golden light filled the room. She put her hand up to block the light, and once they'd adjusted,  
>she saw that it was herself standing in the center, but it wasn't...<p>

/What do you see? /

"That's..." She whispered in awe. "That's..."

/Yes. /

"How...?"

/Did you not know the true nature of the Giga Slave? /

"I knew... I found out that it drew power from L-sama... But..."

/Wrong. /

"... you mean to tell me..."

/Yes. It IS the Lord of Nightmares /

She stared at the scene below her with wide eyes as Hellmaster was eliminated quicker than a thought. Then... The others began asking questions frantically, and her attention was drawn as their heads turned to someone behind her. Xelloss had appeared and was standing on the cliff talking to them wordlessly. She watched their reactions to his words, and his solemn shake of his head. "Wait... What are they saying?"

/You can guess. /

She watched as their reactions were varied, from horror to shock to fear and sadness. "What... does this mean I'm dead?"

/That is a possibility. /

"No..." She whispered. "It can't be... I refuse to accept it."

/You have little choice. /

"I will make that choice myself then."

Silence.

"Hello?"

/Do you truly think you have control? /

She stared down as her form vanished into a beam of golden light, and Gourry sprang after it screaming with a pained look on his face.  
>"...What... can I do?"<p>

"Only one thing at this point."

She turned her head to see Xelloss standing beside her, his eyes open and serious as he gazed at her without a smile. "Xelloss... Tell me what's going on."

He gazed down at the scene below, then waved a hand and it vanished.  
>"You have seen what happened there. Now you have a choice and realization to make."<p>

She eyed him warily. "A... choice? And a realization?"

"Yes."

She stared at him. He wasn't the same person she'd known before. There was some awesome aura around him, and something that made her slightly frightened of him. A cool calm power that radiated like thick waves from him. "What... is that?"

He watched her calmly. "You have successfully called the Lord of Nightmares into yourself. This means that only two things can happen.  
>One, you disappear into the afterlife now that your essence has been taken over. Two..."<p>

She stared at him as he watched her critically. "Two... you are one of the most significantly powerful individuals on this world. L-sama has seen this and given you the opportunity to make use of it in her service."

She stared at him incomprehensibly for a minute, then suspicion crept into her mind. "Who are you really Xelloss?" She asked quietly.

He still held no reaction outwardly to her words. "I told you before.  
>Chaos."<p>

She stared at him silently, not understanding his words, then slowly a thought came into her mind. "I think I understand..." She whispered.  
>"You are a servant of hers..."<p>

His head inclined slightly at that. "Yes."

"Who is Order then?"

"That..." He hesitated as he felt her tense at what she though he was going to say, but he smiled. "...is your choice."

She blinked. "What?"

"You are halfway to the truth Lina."

She stared blankly ahead, then closed her eyes. "I see..."

He smiled then, and surprised her by clapping his hands. "Very well done."

She stared at him in surprise. "What?"

He smiled warmly at her, his fa ade completely changed. A pleasant look lit his face, and he smiled genuinely. "You passed the test Lina-san."

She blinked at him confused. "Huh?"

He nodded at her. "Realization."

She closed her eyes in thought. "Ah... I see..." She took a deep breath. "So... what happens if I accept or refuse?"

"If you accept, you gain position, new orders, and significant power beyond you dreams."

"And if I refuse?"

He watched her sadly, a strange look on his face. "Well...  
>technically..." He took one glance at her face and sighed. "You want to return to him..."<p>

She lowered her eyes. "I'm honored that L-sama would want me for this... but..."

He nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand..." His voice seemed laden with sadness, which made her look up at him. His eyes were sad,... She could see loss there. "I had a similar situation, but I had no alternative. If I wanted to still be around for her, I had to accept."

She took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "I'm sorry..."

He shook his head lightly. "It's all right, I still can see her from time to time, though she knows nothing of me..." He shrugged then glanced at her. "However, though L-sama may not have thought of other ways out other than death, I have."

A spark of hope lit her eyes. "You... you can do that?"

He smiled gently. "Yes." He put a hand on her forehead like an older brother. "After thousands of years, it's not like I haven't learned something."

Her eyes shone up at him hopefully. "I... Would be in your debt."

He smiled. "No need to think of it that way... Just do me a favor."

"Yeah, anything."

"Say hello to your sister for me..."

She blinked in surprise, staring at him in slight shock. "Uh... yeah...  
>sure." She managed to choke out.<p>

He smiled slightly, then focused his hands together and a glowing speck of white light emerged floating like an orb between his hands. "I must ask you to keep what you learned here secret of course, therefore you shall remember nothing of our exchange."

She nodded. "Fair enough."

He smiled lightly and handed her the orb, and she accepted it between her two hands cupped outwards. "Take care of this now, it's your own soul."

She nodded, staring down at it. "Xelloss... one thing..."

"Hm?"

She looked up. "This whole time... You've been parading as something you're not. Do the others know? I mean, those who you're supposedly working for?"

He smiled and winked at her. "Of course not! How do you think they would react if they found out the truth?"

She smiled. "Will you keep searching for Order?"

He nodded. "It's L-sama's will for me to do so. I've been searching this long, what is another few millennia?"

She smiled lightly and then patted his shoulder. "You'll find them..."

He smiled, then nodded and waved to her, and the light in her hand began to expand outwards until she was surrounded in bright light. Before everything devoured the surroundings, she heard his voice speak softly.  
>"Tell her Marin said hi."<p>

She slowly opened her eyes as if she was coming out of a fog... she was holding onto someone... who? She glanced up, and suddenly blushed fiercely as she saw his bright blue eyes staring down at her.  
>"G...gourry..." She murmured, then lay her head against his chest. "I'm glad."<p>

* * *

><p>Several days later, after things had been sorted out and explanations offered, Lina was lying down on the ground staring at the stars when a tall figure blocked her view. She blinked, then nearly drew back in fear at who it was. "Ah... Oneesama.." She gulped as the other smiled down at her.<p>

"Hello dearie, how are things?"

"Uh... good..."

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your saving the world. That was a valiant effort."

She blushed. Praise from her sister was rare. "Thanks..." The other turned to go, when Lina sat upright. "Hey, wait... I was supposed to tell you something..." She paused, trying to remember what it was.  
>"Oh... Uh, do you know someone named Xelloss, sis?"<p>

She paused and glanced back at Lina. "Yes, the servant of a friend of mine."

Lina blinked. That didn't sound right. Then she drug up the name. "Oh,  
>now I remember... Someone named Marin wanted me to say hi to you."<p>

Her face went deathly pale, and her eyes widened from their shadows so that Lina could see them. "...Marin...?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

A faint smile crossed her face. "Yes... a... a very old friend of mine..." Luna's head lowered and Lina was shocked to see a tear rolling down her cheek. "Tell him... If you see him again... that I'm fine." And with that, Luna Inverse vanished.


End file.
